USA Football shows off its national pride during the IFAF U19 World Cup last week in Harbin, China. The team featured two athletes from Cy-Fair ISD, Paul Watson (Langham Creek) and Brandon DePrato (Cypress Woods). less

USA Football shows off its national pride during the IFAF U19 World Cup last week in Harbin, China. The team featured two athletes from Cy-Fair ISD, Paul Watson (Langham Creek) and Brandon DePrato (Cypress ... more

Photo: C/o USA Football

Image 2 of 5

USA Football squares off against the Japanese national team in the IFAF U19 World Cup in Harbin, China July 7, 2016. USA Football defeated Japan 50-20 to advance to the gold-medal game against Canada.

USA Football squares off against the Japanese national team in the IFAF U19 World Cup in Harbin, China July 7, 2016. USA Football defeated Japan 50-20 to advance to the gold-medal game against Canada.

Photo: C/o USA Football

Image 3 of 5

USA Football quarterback Paul Watson, formerly of Langham Creek, in his national team gear. Watson will play college football for head coach Scott Maxfield at Henderson State next season.

USA Football quarterback Paul Watson, formerly of Langham Creek, in his national team gear. Watson will play college football for head coach Scott Maxfield at Henderson State next season.

Photo: C/o USA Football

Image 4 of 5

Brandon DePrato, a graduate of Cypress Woods High School, pictured in his USA Football uniform. DePrato will walk on at the University of Arkansas next season.

Brandon DePrato, a graduate of Cypress Woods High School, pictured in his USA Football uniform. DePrato will walk on at the University of Arkansas next season.

Photo: C/o USA Football

Image 5 of 5

Cy-Fair alumni represent U.S. in IFAF U19 World Cup

1 / 5

Back to Gallery

CYPRESS - In America, as the saying goes, football is king.

But slowly and surely, football is expanding to the rest of the world. German wide receiver Moritz Boehringer made headlines this year when he became the first international player to be drafted directly from a European league - playing for the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns of the German Football League - into the National Football League by the Minnesota Vikings in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

One organization at the forefront of the globalization of football is the International Federation of American Football, and this year, its IFAF U19 (under-19) World Cup USA squad featured two of Cy-Fair ISD’s finest: Paul Watson, former Langham Creek quarterback and Brandon DePrato, former Cypress Woods tight end.

Watson and DePrato traveled to Harbin, China to represent the United States as part of America’s only national football squad, blazing through the early rounds of competition with wins against Austria (65-14), Canada (32-14) and Japan (50-20) before falling to Canada 24-6 in a championship game that doubled as a rematch of the tournament’s semifinal, July 7.

The all-time record for the IFAF U19 World Cup now stands tied 2-2 between Canada and the United States, and DePrato said Wednesday that it could be difficult to explain the result to casual, curious fans.

“It was rough,” DePrato said. “We were at JFK Airport, we were checking in our bags, and the guy asked how we did, and we explained that we lost to Canada in the championship. He just didn’t understand how we could lose in American football to another country. But it was a heck of an experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Speaking after his return to U.S. soil, Watson said that the loss stung, but that there were lessons to be learned from the defeat and the experience.

“It was really disappointing, especially because we had beaten them once before,” Watson said. “It was also disappointing because it’s our sport. We didn’t go over there to win a silver medal. We overcame it by knowing that it’s not all about winning games. It’s about the things you learn from it, the experience, the bonds you make, having integrity and knowing that you have to always stay humble.”

While in some senses, a loss in the championship bout is an unhappy circumstance, from another perspective, it can be seen as a sign that the avowed goal of the IFAF is starting to come to pass. The world is beginning to see, understand, enjoy and play American-style football.

Watson and DePrato both served not only as athletes and competitors, but as ambassadors of the sport when the USA Football team spent time with the Chinese national team, formed earlier this year as China geared up to host the World Cup tournament.

Watson cited that practice as a particularly impactful moment.

“We got to privately practice with China’s national team,” Watson said. “They’re, like, three months old, so they’re really new to football. And we’re it. We are football, America. We basically taught them all the fundamentals and playing the sport and what the sport is about.”

DePrato, who turned down offers at Bryant University and San Diego to walk on at the University of Arkansas next season, agreed that the experience of becoming teachers and ambassadors for the sport was as meaningful and enjoyable a part of the trip for him as competing.

“That was my favorite part of the trip,” DePrato said. “We got to show them the correct way to catch a football, the correct way to run with a football and all that. These kids have been playing for, most of them, not even a year, and they looked up to us so much. It was awesome being able to show them how we do it.”

Watson, who will also be playing college football in Arkansas next year for Scott Maxfield at Henderson State, relished the experience of evangelizing on behalf of the sport he has played since childhood, introducing football to an unfamiliar culture and fostering a love for the gridiron game.

“We played some seven-on-seven with [the Chinese national team], teaching them how to run routes,” Watson said. “The basic things we learned when we were little, they were just now catching onto those things. The coaches kind of sat there and watched while we got hands on with these guys. That was probably the coolest thing for me, teaching another country about the sport of football.”

For Watson, the experience was transformative, fostering in him a new and fervent sense of national pride.

“Before, I was not, like, so patriotic,” Watson said. “Now, I feel like I’m in love with America. I took it for granted being here my whole life.”

The experience of competing for his country on foreign soil opened Watson’s eyes to what it means to fight for something, a lesson he says he will not soon forget.

“Whenever you compete in high school, it’s like, ‘this is my team, Langham Creek, versus Cy Woods,’” Watson said. “When you have to say, ‘this is my country, America, versus your country’ as a whole, it’s a whole different thing, and you take it a whole lot more serious.”

Watson emerged from the experience enjoying a newfound sense of national pride, and - despite a gold-medal game loss he concedes is disappointing - cherished the trip and its affect on his perspective.

“You go somewhere for a decent amount of time and you have to live there, and they don’t have what you have,” Watson said. “It made me a lot more patriotic and made me want to tell everyone, ‘yes, I’m from America. I love my country and I’ll do anything for my country.’”